A Student's Despair

Sarah was a straight-A medical student with a full scholarship. During finals week, stressed and exhausted, she downloaded a casino app "just to relax." The bright colors and celebratory sounds when she won felt like the escape she needed. Within weeks, she was gambling through lectures. She spent her student loan money, her rent money, even the emergency fund her grandmother had given her. When the money ran out, she stole from roommates. When caught, she was expelled and charged with theft. Her scholarship gone, her reputation destroyed, Sarah dropped out. She now works minimum wage jobs, still paying off debt, watching former classmates become doctors. "I traded my dreams for fake slot machines," she reflects. "I'll never be a doctor now."